Chapter 1274 Ambition

Chapter 1274 Ambition

"What?"

Shoure froze.

"It's time to end all of this."

Alexander said it without breaking stride, his long legs already carrying him forward.

Shoure stared after him, confused — then the meaning hit her all at once. She fell into step beside him. "Boss, we need to think this through."

"Oh, we will."

Just not any later than today.

There was something ruthless in Alexander's eyes, cold and absolute. He didn't know what the future held — but the people and the wreckage of the past had long overstayed their welcome.

If the Montgomery family was the wound in his and his wife's marriage, then it was time to cauterize it. Clean. Final.

Whether or not Arthur was the one who'd helped destroy Isabella.

Arthur Manor.

Arthur and Ruby were curled up together on the living room couch when Faye walked in. She took one look at them and couldn't help herself.

"You two seriously have time to sit here and play house right now?"

Arthur took a drag of his cigarette, the picture of cool calculation. "You look tense," he said mildly.

"Tense? Me?" Faye let out a short, humorless laugh. "You're the one sitting on top of the Montgomery Group right now. I've already gotten three calls from investors pulling out — and it's been less than three hours."

"I was never counting on those small-timers anyway. Let them walk."

Faye's brow furrowed. She opened her mouth to push back — and then Arthur stubbed out his cigarette, turned to her with an expression she rarely saw on him, and said quietly: "Mom. Ruby's pregnant."

"What?"

The words landed, and Faye was off the couch and onto the cushion beside Ruby in an instant, all the sharpness melting clean off her face. She reached for the girl's hands, her voice going soft and warm in a way it almost never did.

"Sweetheart — is it true? You're really pregnant?"

"Yes."

Ruby gave a small, pleased nod.

"Oh, I'm going to be a grandmother."

Faye laughed, and her eyes went glassy.

Not that she actually cared about being a grandmother — what was spinning through her mind was far more practical. Ruby being pregnant meant the Ward family would have no choice but to throw their weight behind her son.

Right. Let those investors run.

As long as Arthur had Zachary as a father-in-law, Ankenra City itself might one day be his.

Arthur, meanwhile, was playing his part perfectly — fingers laced through Ruby's, his eyes soft with something that looked like devotion.

"Ruby," he said. "I promise you, one day I'll give you a real wedding. One you deserve."

"But Isabella…"

"Her?" A thin smile crossed his face. "She's probably already dead."

Ruby turned to him sharply. Even Faye couldn't help leaning in. "Really?"

"And if she somehow survived today, she won't make it to the end of the week."

Arthur said it like he was certain. Like it was already decided.

He had no doubt that Alexander and Victoria despised Isabella to the bone.

Isabella was as good as gone.

"If she's dead, my mom will definitely ease up on you," Ruby murmured to him. "She mainly hates you because of Isabella."

It was hard to feel anything but complicated about the woman who'd cast a shadow over her family for as long as she could remember. Isabella had been a ghost in Ruby's life since childhood — always there, always looming.

"Don't worry," Arthur said, coaxing her gently. "Mom will come around soon enough."

"I believe you." Ruby rested a hand over her stomach. "And so does our baby."

Arthur smiled at her — patient, understanding, everything she needed him to be.

Across the room, Faye watched Ruby look at her son like that and finally felt the knot in her chest loosen just a little.

As long as this girl couldn't walk away from Arthur, the Ward family's reluctance wouldn't matter in the end. Sooner or later, they'd hand over half of the Ward Group.

Half.

Faye's gaze drifted back to her son.

No — she knew Arthur better than that. She knew the shape of his ambition. Half would never be enough for him.

His phone buzzed. Unknown number. Something shifted behind his eyes — a name surfacing, she could tell — and he picked up immediately.

"Hello?"